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The Astrian Confederation
The Astrian Confederation was a federative faction that consisted of the southern duchies of the Astrian Empire from the Astros Peninsula after the civil war. This state was created in attempts to maintain order and peace between the duchies in the peninsula, and attempts to perform this happened several times, yet all of them, unfortunately, ultimately ended. After the Civil War - The First Confederation (War of Restoration) After Emperor Primo commit suicide in Monturia after the city was taken by the rebels and his soldiers were all slain, the empire was disbanded. A period of tension followed, as none of the people in Astros knew what should happen now. The old provinces of the south, now declared duchies by their citizens and governors, have amassed their representatives and sent them to Monturia, the old capital of the empire, to discuss what should be the future of Astros. Boycotting this meeting and the idea of possible reunification in general, the Duke of Maris, Felix the Red Aurelius, and his delegation refused to arrive, stating that "The Aurelii shall not bow to any other lord but themselves. Maris is now paving their own way towards the future and prosperity, and no man nor force as grand as ours or even grander may stop us". Duke Emilio the First of Flamont attempted to make Duke Felix change his mind, yet he refused, only repeating what he said in the letter sent to the newly-titled Dukes. During the Council of Monturia, despite their best efforts, the dukes have failed to come to a single conclusion. Some of them, such as Duke Bruno the Second of Lorencia, said that the empire must be recreated, but instead of having an emperor, it would have a senate made out of two parts, the upper senate and the lower senate - the upper senate would act like the Regmontian nobles did during the empire, being heads of the senate and overseering their meetings, whilst the lower senate would be the rest of the duchies representatives, performing minor roles and having less power in votes. Historians speculate that Duke Bruno wanted to become the head of upper senate himself, which would be explained by his earlier attempt to overthrow Emperor Primo ten years before the civil war, which ended up in him being exiled to the Rasidoi Republic for 5 years. Duke Emilio the First of Flamont opposed this, in his opinion, preposterous idea, and insulted Bruno, saying that "the last thing this marvelous mother-loving peninsula needs is a mockery of a monarchy masquerading itself as a proper democratic force", and insisted of recreating the republic instead. Those who supported Duke Emilio would band into a single faction, called The Astrian Confederation, which would later be dubbed "The First Confederation" due to future attempts to recreate it after its collapse. The duchies chose to use a modified version of the republic's banner, replacing the Ram of the Alpii with one big star, symbolising the rise of a new era in Astros. Those who supported Bruno and refused accepting the idea of a republic and instead supported the empire, however, have not formed a faction, not even an alliance, despite the best of Duke Livius' the Third of Arevinci efforts, and opposed the confederation independently. There was instability within the confederation itself, too, due to Duke Emilio opposing the different views of a 'republic' by the Aronians (although this feud was mostly only a continuation of the Flavii-Amoterno conflict that has just started a year ago before these events, as Emilio has not forgiven his father's death yet, only to reconcile the Amoterno personally in his deathbed), or Pina's Duke Cornelio the Black Barasetti claiming ownership of the Island of Norria from Lucia, stating that "During the rule of republic, the province of Pinae Magna had Nostria assigned to it", which was true, although Nostria was assigned to the province of Lucia Superior during imperial rule. Internal wars begun between these pairs of factions, which wasn't good for the confederation. Due to the infighting, it was very unstable, and on the other frontier, the followers of the empire were too unorganised to actually cause any bigger harm to the confederationists. While Lorencia was a part of the confederation for a while, it left when the internal wars begun, and decided not to support the imperialists, either. Its neighbour, Regmont, was left in tatters after Emperor Primo died. The Alpii, devastated by this loss, gathered at Monturia, and held a funeral procession of Primo, despite Duke Bruno II of Lorencia demanding his body to be burnt and the ashes thrown away into the Toccacian Sea, stating that "A man this evil and unjust does not deserve the luxuries of eternally resting on land; may his ashes wander in the sea without rest for the eternity". The Alpii even disregarded his threats of attacking Regmont if they would bury Primo on land. After the family gathered in Monturia, the question of a heir was brought up, as Primo did not leave one. His eldest son, Marzio, was given the throne, according to the Astrian customs. After a year of his rule, however, it turned out that Marzio was mentally unstable - angered by one of his advisors once, he ordered to kill every tenth citizen of Monturia, blinded by sheer anger. Oppressed, the people lived in constant fear. Attempts to seize the throne from Marzio by his siblings, such as the one performed by Lord Fausto the Bright, second eldest of Primo's sons, ended in the initiators' assassinations. Duke Bruno II saw this as a fine opportunity to carry out his threat of war against Regmont, and, infact, used this as a causus belli. As Marzio was slain in battle, the Alpii gave up trying fighting, and Bruno marched upon Monturia at ease, seizing the throne of the Alpii. The old royal family of Regmont fled to the lands of Pina, where Duke Cornelio the Black welcomed them with open arms. Since then, Lorencia had rule of Regmont's lands until the Third Confederation, when following the example set by other duchies' citizens, the people of the conquered lands rebelled against Lorencia, which lost the battle for Regmont. In the end of the confederation, a stalemate was reached between the two sides of empire and republic. Both sides decided that it was best to stop the wars between the Imperialists and Republicans, and the wars that started between the Republicans themselves, thus the representatives of all belligerents met up in Marvea, the capital of the Arevinci, to discuss the end of these conflicts. In the end, with Duke Emilio pushing the confederationists, and with Duke Livius forcing the imperialists to accept the requests of both sides, ceasefire was signed by all of the combatant sides, and trade treaties were revised, enabling trade across Astros. Within the requests of the imperialists was one condition: the Confederation must be disbanded. As so, the First Confederation ended within the Treaty of Marvea. The Second Confederation - "The Era of Stability" The Second Astrian Confederation was formed not as a military alliance, but as a trade company-like political entity. After the Treaty of Marvea was signed, trade was revived across Astros, which opened way for the spreading of ideas. The dogmas and teachings of Dualism were revived, too, as well as the arts and sciences of the Astrian Republic and Empire, so it is obvious that historians have agreed across Astros that the Astrian Renaissance started after the Treaty of Marvea was signed. Due to tensions between the duchies right after the First Confederation's collapse, the taxes for trading were immense and massive. Several duchies that weren't in aggression or tension with one another, for instance, Arevinci and Feliccio, traded without any trading taxes, profiting from sold goods only. Duke Emilio II "The Stubborn" of Flamont, son of Duke Emilio the First of Flamont, maintaining proper trade ties with his neighbours, Lorencia and Pina, noticed the ties between Arevinci and Feliccio, and decided to form a trade alliance that would allow taxless trade across Astros. The requests and conditions of performing this were all settled in a city in Flamont, called Artava, where the dukes Emilio II, Bruno III the Old of Lorencia, Ottavio I the Strong of Pina, Angela Silvencio the Brave of Feliccio, and Livius IV the Bald of Arevinci signed a treaty named after the city (Treaty of Artava). This newly-formed alliance was dubbed "The Second Astrian Confederation". For the banner, the imperial wreath on the bottom and a Moon with a fleur-de-lis was used, the wreath symbolising power, unity, and strength, the moon symbolising piety (since Dualism was experiencing a rebirth), and the fleur-de-lis symbolised the nobility and purity of the members of the newfound trade faction. Not being involved in any form of war, the Confederation proved a success (unlike it's predecessor and successor states). The scent of blood could still be sensed in the air, though, as tensions across Astros still existed, although overtime they faded - except for one: the trade competition between Maris and the Confederation, which started once the Confederation was formed. Maris, opting out of the Confederation, sticking true to Duke Felix's words (although the state was now ruled by his son, Duke Agostino "The Seaborn" Aurelius). At its peak, almost all of Astros (except for Maris) has joined the confederation. The remaining leaders, Duke Cecilio Morneo, Tevas Dario Divinicci, and Duke Erasmo Amoterno joined the confederation three years after it was formed, all together, adding up to the Treaty of Artava. Due to all of Astros being in the confederation and doing very little trade with Maris (weapons weren't overly necessary as only local garrisons were maintained without any bigger armies due to the lack of conflicts, and even when needed they were imported from the Arevinci, and fish was imported way more cheaply from the Noricci shores than from southern Astros), the Marissian economy received a massive blow. It would only rise up to and above the old standards during the Third Confederation, when it supplied the combatants with fish supplies and weapons, thus paving its way to becoming the strongest Astrian economy in the peninsula. The idea of recreating a republic were still widely alive in Northern and Middle Astros. One day, Emilio II, walking around the streets of Leonoria while disguised (this trick has later been adopted by various of his successors, including Niccolo I, II and III of Flamont), asked many people one same question: "How is life these days?". Motivated by replies which ranged from "My business is booming" to "I cannot provide for my family", Emilio decided to summon the dukes of the Confederation in attempts to rebuild the republic, something his father tried before yet failed due to infighting in the First Confederation. Hoping that without infighting, this time he would succeed, he decided to pick up this idea once more, and a 3-day meeting was summoned in Leonoria. During the first day, a feast was held to welcome the dukes in Leonoria, and to display Flamont's current wealth (bragging of and displaying wealth was a common thing among the nobility of Astros, with the exception of Lucia). On the second day's morning, the actual meeting began. In the Royal Palace, Duke Emilio stated his proposition, which was received variously by the dukes. Some supported this idea, the others had valid arguments upon how this idea would fail, the third remained indifferent. A debate began, and the more it lasted, the more intense it turned. More and more arguments for and against a republic were provided, with both sides holding solid onto their beliefs. By the end of this meeting, at 11PM in the evening, no united decision was made. Most of the dukes kindly refused the royal honours that would have been bestowed upon them during the third day (a feast and a ceremonial departion from Leonoria). Emilio, saddened by this outcome, has lost all hope of recreating a republic. "All the dukes are nothing but fat cats, meowing about whose claws are sharper, and whose fur is shinier, only looking after themselves and their power. To repeat what our ancestors had succeeded to do, it would require the dukes to give up their power, and I would be the only one willing to do so". After Duke Pelegrino the Greedy, second eldest son of Duke Bruno the Old (his first eldest son, Vicomte Cassandro, died of fever - an infection in his leg, spawned by a wound made with a rusty sword) gained power in Lorencia, his first decree was leaving the Confederation, stating that his duchy needs money badly as Lorencia's treasury had been drained by funding of the military forces supposed to keep peace in Regmont - keeping the region under control has proven itself a difficult task. Trade taxes were imposed to all traders once again. Soon after, one by one, other rulers followed. In the end, Emilio II cursed the dukes of Astros, saying: "Nine Astrian rulers are my friends (keeping in mind the governor of Provincia Monturia, Vicomte Antonio I, brother of Duke Peligrino the Greedy, and the brother of Livius IV, Domenico I, which ruled Arevinci in cooperation with his eldest sibling), but none of the are worthy of their thrones". Thus, the Second Astrian Confederation was disbanded. The Third Confederation - War of the Monarchs Years after the Second Confederation fell, the idea of recreating a republic has faded amongst the dukes of Astros. But this ember, this movement, this motion was still widely alive among the people. During the Second Federation, the movable printing press had been invented, and its technology spread across Astros like wildfire, heavily aiding scholars in the printing of books. As books and knowledge started to spread faster, and so more and more people could learn to read and obtain books at cheaper prices, they learned about the past of Astros - the strong, unified force that it was when led by the vox populis - the people; the great, formidable empire it once was under the Alpii, and about the downfall of this empire. The Regmontian people, learning of the might and strength their ancestors possessed, decided to finally rise up like a titan from its slumber, and shake off the shackles of the Lorencians. The Alpii still retained their influence in the lands, but had to pay tribute to their conquerors. A young son of the Alpii, Franco Alpius, later titled "the Independant", decided to muster all of the possible forces of his own, and also the eager volunteers of Provincia Monturia. Once he had over five thousand men at arms with himself (of them more than 3/4ths being volunteers), he marched on Monturia, and expelled Vicomte Antonio II from the Imperial Palace. Duke Bruno the Fifth of Lorencia was caught unprepared for such a revolt. A civil war has begun in the area. At the same time, the brother of Duke Bruno, Vicomte Despero "the Demonic" of Lorencia (titled so because of him ruling with an iron grip, mercilessly, all while caring for his subjects, and also because of heterochromia - an eye condition, which made his eyes possess different colours - a bad, devil-like omen in Astrian folklore and religion) saw this uprising as a brilliant chance to seize power at home. Quitting the Second Confederation hurt Lorencian economy even more, forcing the dukes to demand higher taxes from their subjects, so the lower classes were discontent with their situation. As a result, when Despero called his men to arms, saying that he declares war on his own brother for the good of his people, dozens of peasants flocked to support him in battle. With a civil war and a revolution both at hand, Duke Bruno called for aid overseas. He sent a letter to Duke Agapito the Handsome of Lucia, explaining his situation, offering him aid in future wars of his, some land, and his daughter, Sicilia, to marry one of his sons in return. Duke Agapito agreed to this offer, and helped Duke Bruno against in battles against his brother. The scramble for the throne had begun, with Virileada changing hands many times. After the Confederation Category:Factions